Fire severely damages house

An investigation is under way into the cause of a blaze that severely damaged a Taupo house.

Firefighters were called just after 2pm yesterday to the house on Taharepa Rd, north of the main township.

Fire safety investigator Stuart Booten said two appliances and a support vehicle from the Taupo Fire Station went to the house, with the fire 'well-involved" upon their arrival.

"The smoke was extremely heavy, it completely blocked the road."

The road was closed to traffic until the smoke cleared, he said.

Fire crews quickly brought the fire under control but by 4.30pm they were still dampening hot spots. A crew was expected to remain at the scene on standby until about 7pm last night to ensure hot spots were put out, said Mr Booten. He said luckily nobody was home at the time of the fire, which spread right through the inside of the two level brick/wood panelling house.

He said a preliminary site investigation was under way to establish the cause and should be completed today.

However he confirmed the fire was not being treated as suspicious at this stage and police were not involved in the investigation.